Latest Episode

Put on your sequined vest and don’t let the band kids snub you— you’re show choir royalty with this week’s guest, Sydnee McElroy (Sawbones)! It’s all about singing, the raggle-taggle delights of high school theatre, and the long road to figuring out that it doesn’t take dress slacks and a pair of heels to prove you’re a grown-up. Show notes

Hasan Minhaj on Doing Stand Up Comedy in Other Countries and Air Jordans

Hasan Minhaj hosts the new Netflix show Patriot Act. He was also a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, which he did up until August of 2018. His comedy is a mix of political and satirical comedy.

Hasan and Jesse talk about his one-man show, stand up comedy in other countries, and sneakers.

Sharon Horgan has a knack for the creating shows that reveal her characters as determined, funny, sexy, complex, and at times, very flustered. Her comedy has a lot of insightful observations into what it means to be a professional woman negotiating multiple roles including wife and mother. These themes are in full display on her show Catastrophe.

Sharon sat down with Jesse to talk about getting past the awkwardness of writing and filming sex scenes, the evolution of a relationship before and after having kids, and the reasons she likes playing a character who can sometimes come off as a jerk.

Happy Thanksgiving, Rocketeers! We at Pop Rocket are thankful for you, our listeners. For the purposes of this episode, Wynter will be playing the role of Margaret’s sister who always criticizes her stuffing recipe, while Karen is the gay aunt who sold Wappler a bunk Subaru.

There was a lot of tension in the studio, and everyone was walking on eggshells. Will our panelists be able to make it through a discussion of awkward family gatherings without bursting into tears? Will Wynter be triggered by a clip of The Family Stone? Will Margaret angrily scream, “Eat the fish, b***h!”? The panel dissects some of their favorite awkward moments--on screen and off--and try to figure out why we’re so captivated by angry, obnoxious relatives. If any of you out there have concerns about fraught dinner conversations over turkey, stuffing, and sides, the panelists are here for you!

All Abouts

Margaret alerted us to a fine piece of writing from New York Times critic Amanda Hess, who laments, “nothing ever ends anymore and it’s driving me insane.” If you’re overwhelmed by sequels, prequels, reboots, and overlapping universes, she’s a kindred spirit.

If no one spots Wynter out in the wild over the next two weeks, it’s probably because she’s playing her newest video game obsession Red Dead Redemption II.

Did you know that you can now call and leave voicemails for the show? You can! If you want to comment on an episode, give us any feedback or just call to get advice from a panel member, the number is: (530) 237-4108

Sarah Jessica Parker began her career on Broadway, then quickly moved on to acting in classic films throughout the 80's and 90's like Footloose and LA Story. She's probably best known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw on HBO's Sex And The City, which ended in 2004. Her latest role is also for HBO - a comedic drama called Divorce.

Sarah Jessica tells Jesse about the hardest part about acting in Sex And The City, how she finds distance between herself and the characters she plays on screen, and the glory of Thomas Haden Church's mustache.

Chris Gethard hosted the The Chris Gethard Show for 6 years. It aired first on New York City public access, then later on the Fusion network. You might've also seen him on Broad City or Don't Think Twice, the Mike Birbiglia movie that came out in 2016.

Chris is also a standup. His HBO special produced with Judd Apatow is called Career Suicide. It's kind of a one-man show where he covers difficult issues like alcoholism, depression, and death.

Sarah Jessica Parker on her HBO show Divorce, the hardest part of being on Sex and the City, and finding distance between herself and the characters she plays

Sarah Jessica Parker began her career on Broadway, quickly moving on to acting in classic films throughout the 80’s and 90’s such as Footloose and LA Story. She is probably best known for her role as Carrie Bradshaw on HBO’s Sex And The City, ending in 2004. Now she’s back on HBO in a new comedic drama called Divorce.
She sits down with Jesse this week to discuss her role on that show, the hardest part about acting in Sex And The City, and how she finds distance between herself and the characters she plays on screen. They also talk about the glory of Thomas Haden Church's mustache.
You can watch Divorce Sundays on HBO.

Dwayne Kennedy

Dwayne Kennedy has been in the stand-up game for about thirty years now, performing everywhere, from Showtime at the Apollo to The Late Show with David Letterman, but he’s still a bit of a comic’s comic.
Listen here for some of his performance at Bullseye with Jesse Thorn live at the Chicago Podcast Festival.

The Outshot: Curtis Mayfield

For this week’s Outshot, Jesse tells us why he listens to Curtis Mayfield when he’s feeling down.